Japanese scientist Ei-ichi Negishi and 2010 Nobel Prize in Chemistry recipient, receives a honorary degree at the University of Pennsylvania's 255th Commencement in Philadelphia. Matt Rourke/AP

International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn is seen framed in the arm of a court officer as he waits for the start of his arraignment in Manhattan Criminal Court in New York. Strauss-Kahn was denied bail on Monday on attempted rape and other criminal charges, and prosecutors said they are investigating whether he may have engaged in similar conduct once before. Emmanuel Dunand/Reuters

A woman ties sandbags together as people throughout the region race to protect their homes from rising floodwaters due to the opening of the Morganza Spillway in Stephensville, Louisiana on Sunday, May 15. Scores of US heartland rivers from the Dakotas to Ohio have flooded following a snowy winter and heavy spring rains, feeding near-record crests on the lower Mississippi River. Sean Gardner/Reuters

Boys on bicycles wade through a flooded road caused by spring tide in land-sunken area following the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, in Ishinomaki, Miyagi prefecture, northeastern Japan. Kyodo News/AP

An Indian man bathes from a roadside water tap to cool off on a hot summer day in Jammu, India. Heat wave continued in Northern India with maximum temperature rising to about 113 degrees Fahrenheit. Channi Anand/AP

President Barack Obama casts a shadow in the Colonnade of the White House in Washington. Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP

British artist Tracey Emin stands in front of some of her neon artwork at the Hayward Gallery, in London. The exhibition is her first major exhibition in London, and features key works from all periods of the artist's career, including seldom-seen early works and more recent large-scale installations. Kirsty Wigglesworth/AP

An Afghan tailor works in his shop, in Kabul, Afghanistan. Musadeq Sadeq/AP

Pakistanis gather in a field playing cricket and other games as the sun sets in Islamabad, Pakistan. Muhammed Muheisen/AP

An activist of the opposition Georgian Party takes part in a protest at the U.S. Embassy in Tbilisi, Georgia. About 100 demonstrators protested against the support of President Mikhail Saakashvili's government by US administration. The poster in the background reads 'Near Saakashvili means far from democracy'. Shakh Aivazov/AP

Chinese President Hu Jintao waits for the arrival of the President of the European Council Herman van Rompuy at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. Van Rompuy is on an official four-day trip to China, and will hold talks with both President Hu and Premier Wen Jiabao. David Gray /Reuters

A man applies final touches on a clay Buddha statue ahead of Vesak day celebrations in Colombo. Vesak Day falls on May 17 and 18 in Sri Lanka. Dinuka Liyanawatte/Reuters

After widespread protests, a six-month state of emergency started in October. Now, much depends on the next move of leaders who have long used their track record of economic development to paper over widespread human rights abuses and political repression.

ByJames Jeffrey, ContributorDecember 9, 2016

Stringer/AP/File

For nearly a year, mass protests surged across Ethiopia – and stormed across the world’s headlines – as a movement that began with farmers fighting land grabs outside the country’s capital mushroomed into the country’s most sustained and widespread period of dissent and protests since its ruling party came to power more than two decades ago.